Hong Kong arrests Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen for his support of 2019 protests

Hong Kong authorities on Wednesday arrested a Roman Catholic cardinal, a singer and at least two other people on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces to endanger Hong Kong’s national security. Chinaaccording to reports.

the cardinal Joseph Zen, singer and actress Denise Ho, lawyer Margaret Ng, and scholar Hui Po-keung They were detained by the Hong Kong National Security Police, the UK-based human rights group reported. Hong Kong Watch.

Apparently, the arrests were related to their functions as administrators of the Fund of Humanitarian Aid 612which provided legal assistance to people who participated in the 2019 pro-democracy protests that were repressed by the Security Forces, the group said. The fund was closed in 2021.

Dozens of pro-democracy activists have been arrested under a wide National Security Law imposed on the city by Beijing in 2020 after the demonstrations. The city’s independent media has been destroyed and its legislature has been reshuffled to fill it with Beijing loyalists.

Zen, the retired Archbishop of Hong Kong, is a fierce critic of China and has been very harsh in his condemnation of the Vatican’s 2018 deal with Beijing on bishop appointments, which he has said was a sell-out of underground Christians in China.

Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, He indicated that the Holy See “learned with concern the news of the arrest of Cardinal Zen and is following the evolution of the situation with extreme attention.”

Ho has also been an outspoken advocate for civil and political rights. His representative Jelly Cheng, confirmed Ho’s arrest but said he had no further information.

hui was arrested at Hong Kong International Airport while trying to leave the cityasserted Hong Kong Watch.

“Today’s arrests are a clear signal that Beijing intends to intensify the crackdown on fundamental rights and freedoms in Hong Kong”, declared the executive director of the group, benedict rogers.

“We urge the international community to expose this brutal repression and demand the immediate release of these activists,” Rogers said.

Several of Kong Kong’s leading activists have fled to Taiwan, the UK or elsewhere, while thousands of other Hong Kongers have chosen leaving the city, raising fears for the economic future of this Asian financial center of 7.4 million people.

The arrests follow the election on Sunday of Hong Kong’s new leader, John Leean old hard-line security chief who ran unopposed in a process controlled by Beijing.

The European Union and the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States – condemned the election as fundamentally undemocratic and a betrayal of the principle of “one country, two systems”according to which Hong Kong should retain its own political, legal and economic system for 50 years after the end of British colonial rule.

The Hong Kong government and police had no immediate comment on the reported arrests.

Mayan Wangprincipal investigator of Human Rights Watch in China, explained that he understood that a fifth person, the former member of the Legislative Council Cyd Ho Sau-lanhad also been arrested.

Zen’s arrest for his peaceful activities “is a shocking new low point for Hong Kong, illustrating the free fall of the city in terms of human rights in the past two years,” Wang said in a statement.